Many modern motorcycles comprise windshields (also called windscreens) that are positioned in front of the rider. Such windshields reduce the amount of wind impacting the rider while the motorcycle is in motion, often making the riding of the motorcycle less fatiguing for the rider. Moreover, motorcycle windshields may further act to protect the rider from other elements such as flying insects, rain, and road debris.
The aerodynamics of wind impinging on a windshield change significantly as a function of the speed at which the motorcycle is traveling. As a result, many modern motorcycle manufacturers have created motorcycles with windshields that may be adjusted in height and/or angle by the rider via an electric motor connected to a rider-operated switch. The 2006-model-year BMW K1200GT and Honda ST1300 ABS motorcycles, for example, comprise such electrically adjustable windshields.
A rider on one of these conventional types of motorcycles may desire to frequently adjust the position of the windshield as the rider's speed changes. The rider may, for example, wish to adjust the position of the windshield to have some amount of wind impinging on the rider's body during slow travel to aid in cooling the rider. However, at higher speed, this same windshield position may allow so much wind to impinge on the rider that the rider becomes uncomfortable or fatigued. As a result, the rider will desire to manipulate the position of the windshield as the rider's speed changes. Unfortunately, such an operation may need to be performed frequently as the motorcycle speed changes due to, for example, road conditions or traffic. What is more, such an operation, when performed through a rider-operated switch, may be distracting to the rider. The moving of a windshield in the conventional manner may, as a result, increase the rider's workload and reduce rider safety.
As a result, there is a need for a motorcycle windshield that can be adjusted for varying speed conditions without requiring that the rider frequently operate a manual switch.